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April 13, 2009

Walkthrough: CSI: NY Episode 1: Downward Spiral

notes:

You can skip two mini-games in each scene. There are two lights next to a Skip button on each mini-game that shows the status of skipped games (I didn’t skip any :) Skipping games will most likely get you lower ratings at the end of the game.

Click on underlined text in conversations to pursue topics. Completed topics will change colour from pink to white.

Drag items from the inventory to a person to ask questions about them.

Your Credibility depends on how accurately you click parts of items, such as photos and documents, when asking questions, and decreases if you ask irrelevant questions.

You can only save in one slot you when exit the game. The game always resumes from this point.

I’m not sure what the “Hint” does – I used it once to locate a hidden object, but nothing happened that I could see. Anyway, this game is lucid and reasonable enough to finish without any hints if you’re an experienced adventure / puzzle / HOG gamer.

walkthrough:

You play as Detective Mac Taylor. The game starts with a briefing by Detective Don Flack at the Empire State Building.

Scene 1: Exterior Empire State Building

Speak to Det. Flack. Investigate the body.

Click on the stars near the waist of the body. Take photos of the hand, the face and the tattoo on the chest.

Now find the objects from the shapes displayed in the inventory panel at the bottom of the screen. Click here to view the items.

Solution: Use the swab to draw the outline of the bloodstain. I required a couple of attempts for this because my mousepad is worn out.

Discuss the case with Det. Flack. Strange that the man was in pajamas in a building with no sleeping places. Also, which floor did he jump from? And did he jump at all, because ‘jumpers’ usually want audiences (to stop them)?

Drag the photos to Det. Flack. Click on fingertips: skin torn, known as ‘flappers’. Apparently the man was holding onto something before falling.

Drag the bracelet to Det. Flack. Click on the logo. Man was probably holding the bracelet when he fell.

Drag the red cloth to Det. Flack. It’s some ultra-light fabric.

Scene 1 complete.

Scene 2: Lobby of Empire State Building

Click on the stars between the computers on the desk. You need something in your inventory before you can operate the computer.

Now find the objects from the shapes displayed in the inventory. Click here to view the items.

Drag the cables to the security computer to start it. You need to log in by figuring out the password.

Mini-game 1: Swap numbers so that each row and column add up to 15.

Solution:

Top Row: 5, 3, 7
Middle Row: 9, 4, 2
Bottom Row: 1, 8, 9

One good thing about this mini-game is that it gives the totals alongside the rows and columns, thus avoiding the painful addition process that is always a part of such games. This is a small but important improvement.

Now the computer screen is available. Click on “Facial Recognition CD” near the bottom centre of the screen.

Bill Tavers – the assistant security officer – is not happy about your little break-in. He is also upset about being locked out of the computer systems by his supervisor, who has quit recently.

Discuss the case with Tavers. He is happy that you have cracked the password. Flack has briefed him about the investigation. Thousands of people visit the building, going to 102 floors via 72 elevators.

Drag red cloth to Tavers. He has never seen it before.

Drag bracelet to Tavers. Not his taste.

Drag photo to Tavers and click on the face. Tavers says the victim is not part of security or administration.

Drag CD to Tavers. It’s a Face Recognition software that uses “eigenvalues” to match the photo of a face to someone who was captured on the security cameras.

Mini-game 2: To match the victim’s face computer records.

Solution: Drag each item from the left panel onto the blank face till it best matches the victim. Keep the Compare button pressed if you want to see the victim's photo.

Complexion: Black (the black box on the right of the palette, below the face parts list)
Chin: Second from top of the list: the semi-beard
Hair: Third from top: the curly mop
Lips: Fourth from top: the plumpish one
Nose: The second last one
Eyes: The heavy eyebrows and large eyes

Scene 2 complete.

Scene 3: Morgue

Dr. Sid Hammerback says that the victim’s entire body was broken up. Click on the X-Ray on the left wall of the morgue.

Mini-game 1: Compare the two scans of the victim’s abdominal x-ray and find 10 differences.

Three areas – behind the leg and the two needle marks on the back can be seen by the naked eye as well as the microscope, and the hidden tattoo on the top arm can be seen with the UV light.

Dr. Hammerback says the needle marks are professional and the victim is likely a doctor or knows a doctor. The incisions may be surgical and repaired with surgical glue, which opened up when the victim fell. The tattoo is made with UV-sensitive inks which are popular in high-end clubs and used by very few parlors.

Dr. Hammerback gives you the unique chemical composition of the tattoo ink to help you track it down.

Scene 3 complete.

Scene 4: Crime Lab

Adam Ross asks you the check the monitors to see the evidence.

Click on stars on the green monitor to the bottom left of the screen. It has the composition of the UV tattoo, and the recent shipments which transported those chemicals.

Mini-game 1: Match names of shipments to company logos by drawing lines that do not intersect.

Solution: This is another mouse control game wherein you have to join the Hot Point Tattoos logo on the left to its match on the right without touching the other logos. There are many solutions. Mine is as shown.

Now click the stars on the blue screen on the top right.

Mini-game 2: Drag each needle to the gel and drag each gel to the sample to find a match.

Solution: Pick up each needle and drag it over a gel – a small petri dish. It will make a dot in the middle of the dish, like the one in the sample. The dot in the dish has to exactly match the dot in the sample. It's the fat 16 gauge needle, second from bottom left, as shown.

Mini-game 3: See which instrument made the incision on the victims back.

Solution: Pick up each instrument and drag it over a gel. It will make a dot in the middle of the dish, like the one in the sample. The dot in the dish has to exactly match the dot in the sample. It’s the surgeon’s scalpel, the one at the bottom right of the screen.

This puzzle is not entirely trial and error like its predecessor, since Dr. Hammerback has already mentioned that the incisions were very precise and most likely made by a doctor. None of the other items, except the syringe, are a doctor’s regular tools.

It is concluded that it is possible that the victim was in a hospital, and he escaped from it. You ask Ross to check out hospitals in the area with an escaped patient while you go to check out tattoo parlors.

Scene 4 complete.

Scene 5: Hot Points Tattoo Parlor

Dr. Sheldon Hawkes from the Crime Lab and you go to the parlor.

Find the objects from the shapes displayed at the bottom of the screen. Click here to view the items.

Solution: This is straight-forward enough: just click on matching pairs. But note, the pairs are mirror images of each other. Once you click all the pairs, the victim’s dragon tattoo – which is clearly visible on top from the beginning – becomes available.

Amy Yablans greets you and Dr. Hawkes. She says that the tattoo was complex and required the person to have high concentration and pain tolerance. She says his name is Clay Sandor.

Drag photo to Amy. She identifies the victim as Clay Sandor.

Drag bracelet to Amy. She identifies it as Clay’s. She also says that he gave it to some person with a Mohawk around the fifth session, possible in return for some pending payment.

Drag red cloth to Amy. She hasn’t seen it before.

Drag tattoo to Amy. She identifies it as the one she drew on Clay.

Scene 5 complete.

Scene 6: Crime Lab

Det. Lindsay Monroe meets you at the Lab.

Click the stars on the big monitor on top right.

Dr. Monroe says that the Face Recognition Software failed to turn up any identifications of people who visited upto 3 days ago. The conclusion is that the victim must have entered the building more than 72 hours ago and stayed inside somewhere.

Mini-game: To re-create the victim’s fall by adjusting height and velocity bars.

Solution: This game is educated guessing after the first couple of failed guesses. It was a bit confusing because getting the body to land at the marked spot required the velocity to be maximum (no problem), but the height to be at a point higher than the building itself!

Now click the stars on the smaller green monitor.

Mini-game: To match victim’s name to possible addresses via the DMV records.

Solution: This game is similar to matching the tattoo parlor name to the shipment mini-game: you have to draw a line with a mouse between the two matches without touching any of the other items. This is my route.

Scene 6 complete.

Scene 7: Clay's Apartment

Find the objects from the shapes displayed at the bottom of the screen. Click here to view the items.

Solution: Click on the right of the smudged fingerprint on the sill to pinpoint the bloodstain. Then, in a repeat of the first mini-game, use the mouse to draw an outline of the bloodstain to swab it.

Scene 8 complete.

Scene 9: Crime Lab

Click on blue computer on bottom right.

Mini-game: Reconstruct Clay’s fingerprint.

Solution: Drag the fingerprint pieces from the right hand side onto the print on the left to construct the main print. The middle fragment in column 1 (from the left) fits the bottom of the print, the middle fragment in column 3 fits the top, and the last fragment in column 3 (from the top) fits the middle of the print.

Click on the filing cabinet near the window to the left of the screen. It has a combination lock.

Mini-game 1: Open the combination lock of the filing cabinet.

Solution: Use the up and down arrows near each column to organize the items in logical order. The basic logic is one body part, its sportswear, the instrument of the sport, and the field. So something like, foot, shoes (cleats), soccer ball and soccer field. Or hand, mitt, baseball and baseball diamond.

It is a bit of trial and error since the up-down mechanism is not “rotational” in the sense that the images don’t rotate in order but appear only in certain rows, like the soccer ball never appears in the top row.

Sark says that Clay was the poster boy of urban climbing, an extreme sport, before he dropped out of site, and now, turned up dead.

Sark says that urban climbing is destined to be the next big extreme sport, with mainstream media attention and international exposure coming its way soon.

Sark says that unlike a lot of wannabes, Clay had the full package – body, voice, skill – to become the poster boy of the sport, which made a lot of his rivals jealous.

Sark says that a couple of weeks ago, Clay took a hefty advance from him citing a family emergency, and then disappeared.

Drag fingerprint, red cloth scrap to Sark. He does not know anything.

Drag newspaper article to Sark. He says that Clay’s tragic background added to his marketable persona.

Drag Clay’s journal to Sark. He says that Clay was a bit eccentric.

Drag tattoo to Sark. He says Clay got it without Sark’s permission and delayed a photo-shoot.

Drag photo to Sark, and click on the fingertips. He says that it’s unfortunate the way Clay died.

Drag bracelet to Sark, and click on logo. He says that these bracelets are given to climbers who complete their fifth building. He also says he had one some time ago, and that climbers favour Club Noir in Soho.

Discussion over. If your progress bar remains incomplete (mine did), just re-click on the conversation cues in the dialogue box.

Scene 10 complete.

Scene 11: Club Noir

Find the objects from the shapes displayed at the bottom of the screen. Click here to view the items.

Find the objects from the shapes displayed at the bottom of the screen. Click here to view the items.

Items that are potential evidence (clockwise from bottom left):

Crutches, Folder, Security Manual, Pressure measure, Diploma, X-Ray, Bottle of trimethylsone (I had to click on pretty much EVERY bottle in the scene to hit on this one!), Calculator, Stethoscope, Pamphlet, Cup, Pen

Click on the grey paper shredder on the floor near the door on the right side of the screen. Someone has shredded up Dr. Coil’s accounts sheets.

Mini-game: Put the shredded document in order.

Solution: Click on two of the shredded pieces and change their positions till you have the statement of accounts.

Dr. Coil says that Clay was his only patient, and that he was specialised in elevating the human form above its current evolutionary levels.

Dr. Coil says Clay was staying at his clinic for the duration of the treatment, but was missing since the night before.

Drag red cloth to Dr. Coil. He says it may be fabric from Clay’s wing.

Drag tattoo to Dr. Coil. He identifies it as being on Clay.

Drag cheque to Dr. Coil and click on the amount. He wants a copy of it to pursue the matter with his lawyers.

Drag photo to Dr. Coil and click on the face. He says it’s a tragedy and that Clay was destined to be the world’s first flying man.

Drag diploma to Dr. Coil. He says it’s his and asks if you have found the wings, because if Clay had tested them prematurely, it might cause Dr. Coil to lose his license.

Drag Clay’s folder to Dr. Coil. He says you won’t understand the case.

Drag x-ray to Dr. Coil. He says the hooks are fused into the shoulder bones, to serve as anchors for a steel-framed para-glider that would allow Clay to fly.

Drag security manual to Dr. Coil. He says he uses the manual to get out the office when the security system is on.

Drag account statement to Dr. Coil. He says that though Clay paid the initial million, he didn’t pay the rest. He now owes Dr. Coil $100,000 which Dr. Coil needs to continue his research.

Drag drug bottle to Dr. Coil. He says that it is an part of his research.

Dr. Coil will be brought in for further questioning.

Scene 14 complete.

Scene 15: Interrogation of Dr. Evan Coil

Except for a couple of new answers, Dr. Coil re-iterates what he said in his clinic, so I’m not sure why there was the need for these two interrogations when one could have sufficed.

Drag red cloth to Dr. Coil. He says it might be fabric from Clay’s wing.

Drag Clay’s folder to Dr. Coil. He says that Clay was admitted for the past two weeks and was a model patient.

Drag statement to Dr. Coil. He says that Clay owed him a lot of money.

Drag security manual to Dr. Coil. He says every night the security alarm is switched on to protect the expensive equipment. He says Clay knew the code, and the night Clay died, Clay may have responded to someone he knew and opened the clinic’s door.

Drag diploma to Dr. Coil. He says it’s legitimate.

Drag x-ray to Dr. Coil. He says the hooks are fused into the shoulder bones, to serve as anchors for a steel-framed para-glider that would allow Clay to fly.

Drag drug bottle to Dr. Coil. He says it was used to reduce Clay’s bone density to that of a bird, but Clay didn’t want to lose his muscle mass. So Dr. Coil was trying to figure out a middle way.

Drag cheque to Dr. Coil and click on the amount. He says that if Clay had a million dollars, then he should have paid Dr. Coil his due payment.

Drag tattoo to Dr. Coil. He says he doesn’t know much more about this.

Drag photo to Dr. Coil and click on the face. He says that in his weakened condition, Clay could not have succeeded in climbing the building, and probably would not have tried either.

The dialog box now has new text. Click on the new underlined phrases.

Dr. Coil says he didn’t kill Clay as he had invested a lot of money and time and his practice on him.

Interrogation complete.

Scene 15 complete.

Scene 16: Lobby of Empire State Building

After talking to Tavers, click the stars on the computer on the left.

Mini-game: Check to see if Sark was in the building recently.

Solution: One more run of Face Recognition, this time for Sark.

Complexion: White (the white box on the right of the palette)
Chin: Since Linc has no beard, this is switched off
Hair: The one at the bottom of the list: the mohawk
Lips: The middle one: third from top
Nose: Second from top
Eyes: The middle one: third from top

Scene 16 complete.

Scene 17: Crime Lab

Adam Ross says he has a sample of DNA from Clay’s fingernails, and samples from Dr. Coil, Linc and the Van Lars twins.

Click the small screen on the bottom left.

Mini-game: Check for DNA match.

Solution: Use the tweezer to drag the DNA samples to the respective slides. The leftover DNA looks like this.

Match confirmed to Linc Sark.

Ross says that the Face Recognition program has positively identified Linc in the building within a hour of Clay’s death.

Scene 17 complete.

Scene 18: Linc Sarc’s Office

Linc is not in his office.

Find the objects from the shapes displayed at the bottom of the screen. Click here to view the items.

Items that are potential evidence (clockwise from bottom left):

Wing Part 1, Clay Sandor’s Last Flight, Wing Part 2, Wing Part 3, Wing Part 4, Wing Part 5, Wing Part 6, Wing Part 7, Wing Part 8

Once you collect all the wing parts, you have to assemble the wings.

Mini-game: Assemble the wing.

Solution: Drag the pieces to fit together. When pieces match, they lock in place. Form the wing and note the tear.

Linc says Clay took the advance and disappeared and that he could not appease the investors with the body-modification story. Linc is potentially out of millions in penalty clauses.

Linc says that he hasn’t seen Clay for weeks after Clay took the money, and only heard about his death.

Drag the wing scrap the Linc. Linc says that when he visited Clay at Coil's office, he put on the wings and jumped off the building, falling to his death. Linc also says he took the wings after Clay died so he could sell them later on.

Drag photo to Linc. He says the Clay wanted a hundred thousand dollars from the million transferred to Dr. Coil’s account, so he went to check out Dr. Coil. He kept this a secret to avoid influencing the detectives.

Drag security manual to Linc.

Watch the finale.

Ciao for now!

This is an original walkthrough written by me. Please do not distribute / adapt the text and images in any way without my written consent.

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about me

My brother introduced me to gaming on our ZX Spectrum in 1983, and is still my source of 'games that deserve to be played'. Gaming is one of my pastimes when I’m not working as Chief Executive Officer for a mid-sized web dev firm. Here's my AG bio.

what's this about?

Reviews and walkthroughs of classic and casual adventure games (PC) that I've played.

I'm not a professional gamer, and have no link to the gaming industry beyond my pro bono reviews for Adventure Gamers. All my content is original, except game briefs taken from official websites. I only play and review games that suit my interests, and the views are all mine. I post walkthroughs only of games for which I didn't consult external walkthroughs. My notes illustrate the way I personally navigated a game.